


Singularity #7: "Unbreakable"

by Marc_Quill



Series: Marc Quill's Singularity [8]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Conspiracy Thriller, M/M, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8940205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marc_Quill/pseuds/Marc_Quill
Summary: In the penultimate chapter of Singularity, Finn and Ava must work together in order to rescue Skye from SDI’s clutches.





	1. Prologue

**Prologue – The Best Laid Plans…**

It was nothing but a failure. Nothing but unbridled disappointment. And that was something that frustrated Finch Finwick to no end.

“Goddamnit…”  Finn muttered angrily to himself, his hands raised above his head. “What is it about me that gets myself caught in these kinds of situations?” 

Ava tried to activate her light powers, but she just surrendered as a trio of SDI guards surrounded the two.

Finn and Ava had come so close to getting to where their friend Skye was apparently being held captive by SDI Genomics. And now… that seemed to go up in smoke in a matter of mere moments.

The trio of SDI guards held their guns out and pointed them at Finn and Ava, who didn’t bother to try and fight out of this situation. They knew that they had lost. That their one opportunity to rescue Skye from the evil organization’s grasp had ended in disaster. It was all over.

—

**_Previously on_ ** **Singularity** **_…_ **

On the streets of Toronto, a young superpowered woman only known as “Skye” found herself hunted down by SDI Genomics’ Repossession Task Force led by ex-JTF-2 operative Samuel Brandt. The R.T.F.’s mission: apprehend Skye and extract her extraordinary secrets by any means necessary.

Skye ended up encountering Finch “Finn” Finwick, a gay youth who wanted to help her in uncovering the truth about SDI, as well as Ava Lorenz, a homeless teen born with the ability to generate a perpetual amount of energy that she can manipulate into various forms. Together, these three wholly different individuals have banded together to expose the secret behind Project Singularity before it’s too late.

Unfortunately for Skye, she was captured by SDI and had her memories of Finn and her recent experiences in Toronto wiped clean by a set of code words uttered by SDI CEO Gerald Selfridge. Now designated as Subject SK-591, Skye was told of her true past as the first and only success of SDI’s Singularity program (also being revealed as the source of her superhuman abilities) before being beaten down yet again by the Genetic Extractors after she forcefully regained her memories.

Back in Toronto, Ava Lorenz discovered that Brandt framed Finn for the murder of Isaac Ellerton, ultimately stopping the R.T.F. squad leader with the help of the Toronto Police’s SSgt. Derick Eddison. They brought Brandt back to Police Headquarters, which helped cleared Finn’s name. Eddison later vowed to help Finn and Ava get to Skye by utilizing TPS’s surveillance plane as a means of getting to her location.

At SDI Base Alpha, Dr. Ilsa Antrovich, one of the scientists working on the reborn Project Singularity, decided to tell Skye about Dr. Elizabeth Emery and the role she played in freeing the young superhuman from Base Alpha back in 1995 — as well as her influence on Dr. Antrovich would later administer an experimental serum to help restore Skye’s powers, having the added side effect of increasing the level of said powers to even greater levels than before, effectively making Skye stronger than she has ever been.


	2. Act One

**Act I – Drop The Gloves**

**_Aboard the Toronto Police Surveillance Plane – January 29th, 2016 – Two Hours Earlier_ **

“Mr. Finwick, are you and your kid friend alright in the back?” SSgt. Derick Eddison of the Toronto Police briefly peeked at both Finn and Ava sitting in the back of TPS’s surveillance plane.

“Yeah… we’re both good.” Finn yawned.

It was approximately an hour since the Cessna 206-H plane left Buttonville Municipal Airport for its destination of Killarney Airport, which was the closest landing point near the suspected location of SDI’s “Base Alpha” facility.

While Ava was fast asleep on Finn’s lap, the 21-year-old was still awake, quietly pondering about how things escalated ever since Skye came crashing into his life a couple of weeks ago. Although it seemed like his life was in perpetual danger from that point on, Finn came to appreciate the presence Skye had. A lot about her was still shrouded in mystery to him, but none of that mattered to Finn, who saw Skye as a person of great compassion and kindness.

As it stood now, there were two important people in Finn’s life: his hockey-playing boyfriend Stephen O’Day and Skye, a woman he only knew for a two-week span, but someone who had left an indelible mark on him.

Finn was still figuring out how he was going to fit in the life of someone who had an eye on being the best hockey player since childhood. He was always supportive of Stephen O’Day’s quest to be the greatest NHL player, yet he couldn’t help but feel like a second fiddle sometimes to O’Day’s competitive focus.

And then there was Skye. Finn still didn’t know why he was so drawn to her and the many mysteries that followed the 20-year-old superhuman, but he cared for Skye as if he had known her for a long time.

With the views of the Georgian Bay providing some ambience to get his thoughts going, Finn continued to silently reflect on his life. While rescuing Skye was still fresh in his mind, there was something else affecting him on a deeper level.

As much as he valued Skye’s friendship, that was eclipsed by how much he loved Stephen O’Day. It was to the point that there was something that he really wanted to do now more than ever: put forward a proposal to marry Stephen.

Finn was planning on doing just that tomorrow after Stephen’s Marlies game versus the Binghamton Senators, as part of a romantic dinner he hoped to have with him. It was just unfortunate that the entire SDI/Project Singularity mess had seemingly put an abrupt end to those plans.

But now, Finn realized that his desires to marry Stephen had to be put on hold for the time being. All that mattered right now was that he and Ava got to Skye before it was too late to save her from SDI’s evil machinations.

The twenty-one year-old looked at the tracking device he held in his hands intently. As it had been for the past day and a half, the device was pulsating repeatedly to denote Skye’s presumed whereabouts at the moment — right over the Georgian Bay, to be exact. That repeated beeping was the only sign right now that Finn’s friend was still out there, one that he was more than willing to take as fact.

Finn knew that Skye was always there for him and Ava when they needed her, so it was time to return the favour by being there for her when she needed them the most.

—

**_Chief Aleaxandra MacDonald’s Office, Toronto Police Headquarters – 1030 hours_ **

Constable Yusef Khan held the stack of SDI intelligence that Skye had stashed in her bag, presenting it to Chief Alexandra MacDonald for her perusal. This evidence was unsubstantiated proof that SDI was not the upstanding corporate entity it claimed to be when it tried to implicate Skye as a criminal to cover its own illicit tracks, as well as allowing for Toronto Police to capture their so-called “property” for them.

Inspector Bradley Coates also stood in Chief MacDonald’s office, hoping that all this trouble was worth it, especially when he was dead certain that Finn was guilty for Isaac Ellerton’s murder… even though the arrest of Samuel Brandt pretty much debunked that idea.

“You understand that this entire debacle is going to make us look really bad in the eyes of the public, right?” Inspector Coates warned.

“The public has a right to know the truth,” Chief MacDonald quickly responded. “SSgt. Eddison’s evidence is accurate enough that it not only clears Skye and Mr. Finwick of any charges against them, but also to expose SDI Genomics’ own illegal operations.”

“We were all fooled, but now’s our chance to set things right, Inspector. I’ll explain everything to the media and public later on so that everything can get sorted out.”

Inspector Coates walked off in a bit of a sullen mood. “I just hope this is worth it. I really hate it when I have to admit that I’ve made a mistake.”

“Again, I have to thank SSgt. Eddison for bringing all this to my attention.” Chief MacDonald praised the missing-in-action SSgt. Eddison for his efforts in finding the all-important evidence that would blow the SDI case wide open.

“Speaking of which, Derick hasn’t reported for quite a while now,” Constable Khan mentioned Eddison’s disappearance — not knowing that he was assisting Finn and Ava in bringing them to the purported location of SDI Base Alpha.

” In any case, I need to check up on Mr. Brandt’s cell to see if he’s enjoying his new accommodations.” 

With that, Constable Khan left to make his way to the jail cells in order to see if Brandt was still being incarcerated, leaving Chief MacDonald to simply just try (in vain) to contact SSgt. Eddison on her cell phone.

—

**_The Outskirts of Killarney Provincial Park – 1100 hours_ **

With their knapsacks firmly worn their backs, Finn and Ava began the arduous task of finding just exactly where Skye was. Her tracking beacon had mysteriously disappeared after hours and hours of blinking repeatedly, leading Finn and Ava to believe that something might’ve happened to Skye. Further complicating matters was the snowfall starting to accumulate, making visibility even more of a daunting issue.

That only forced them to hasten their approach so that they could reach Skye in time before SDI’s personnel could do whatever it was they were planning with her. However, trying to find Skye’s location and the supposed SDI secret base located in the vicinity was easier said than done, considering the 485 square kilometres of land that awaited Finn and Ava.

Finn went into his backpack and pulled a map of the park and nearby area that he printed out just prior to the trip. Despite Skye’s signal disappearing, Finn managed to draw a circle on that map on the area where the beacon was flashing to denote his friend’s location — seemingly in the middle of Georgian Bay near Killarney.

“Are you sure y’know where we’re going, Finn?” Ava asked while she adjusted her pink toque. “This place is huge! How do we know if SDI’s base is even here?”

“We just have to trust Skye in how she wants us to find her,” Finn replied, still hopeful that he and Ava were going to be successful in locating their friend. “She’s never let any of us down. And we’re not gonna let her do— wait… stay low and hidden, Ava.”

Finn’s sudden change in tone was brought on by the sight of a small strike force of SDI security soldiers currently patrolling the area. He promptly ducked into a nearby snowbank, taking Ava along with him so that they would not be spotted.

“Hey, what’s the big de–” Ava tried to shout before Finn shushed her.

“Please keep your voice down,” Finn whispered. “I know you’ve got your light powers, but we’re outnumbered badly here. And without Skye to help us, we’d lose this fight.”

Before Finn could continue, he noticed Ava paying close attention to the SDI security soldiers filing together and heading away from where the two were hiding.

“Maybe those guys can lead us to wherever SDI’s keeping Skye captive…” Ava had an idea of what to do next. “We just have to follow them by sneakin’ behind them and whatever.”

“That’s actually… not a bad idea at all.” Finn admitted matter-of-factly. “It’d make finding where Skye is a hell of a lot easier. Take the lead.”

Ava didn’t know how to react to Finn letting her take command on this plan, but she did lead the way by following the last remaining SDI security soldier discretely, with Finn also doing huddling over right behind Ava. 

It was a difficult struggle for Finn and Ava to try and not make any unnecessary noise to attract unwanted attention, especially with the desire to find Skye sooner rather than later readily kicking in. But, they certainly did try their best to follow the SDI security detail through the woods of Killarney Provincial Park.

After minutes of following the security soldiers closely, Finn and Ava appeared to have reached their destination: a seemingly-abandoned warehouse facility surrounded by a chainlink fence and a security checkpoint. As soon as a dark green military truck passed by the snow-covered rock that Finn and Ava were hiding behind, the two quickly moved to hitch a ride at the back of the truck, with nobody noticing this attempt at subterfuge.

The military truck approached the checkpoint, then stopped short of actually entering the warehouse facility as two SDI security guards in white outfits began to inspect for any abnormality with the truck.

This naturally got the attention of Finn and Ava, who were in danger of being sussed out by the two inspectors. They huddled together and tried to figure out what to do next.

“Y’know… this would really be a lot more easier if Skye was here to help us…” Ava confessed, feeling nervous about this potentially-perilous juncture she found herself in.

“Doesn’t mean it’s impossible.” Finn had some hope. “I’ve been meaning to practice some of my fighting, anyway…”

Once the two inspectors entered the back of the truck, they were met by Finn and Ava grabbing them as a struggle began in earnest. While Ava had trouble with the inspector she was grappling with, Finn was able to knee his foe in the groin. He then pushed the other inspector and held Ava so that they could escape the truck.

This caught the attention of the remaining SDI security guards who noticed the intrusion right away. They made a furious pursuit to apprehend the two intruders who attempted to infiltrate the base.

“Goddamnit…”  Finn muttered angrily to himself, his hands raised above his head. “What is it about me that gets myself caught in these kinds of situations?” 

He was irritated that the plan of waiting to see what would happen failed like how the plan of quietly infiltrating Base Alpha ran into its own complications.

Ava tried to activate her light powers, but she was unable to do so as a trio of SDI guards appeared to confront her and Finn. Her body was still trying to recharge energy, thus not allowing for any use of her powers at the moment.

“Whoever you two are, just surrender right now and we won’t have to hurt you.”One of the guards spoke a heavily-muffled voice.

Finn and Ava had come so close to getting to where their friend Skye was apparently being held captive by SDI Genomics. And now… that seemed to go up in smoke in a matter of mere moments.

The trio of SDI guards held their guns out and pointed them at Finn and Ava, who didn’t bother to try and fight out of this situation. They knew that they had lost. That their one opportunity to rescue Skye from the evil organization’s grasp had ended in disaster. It was all over.

This was the end of the road.


	3. Act Two

**Act II – Homecomings**

**_Toronto Marlies Team Bus, currently in Grand Rapids, Michigan – 1120 hours_ **

As the Marlies’ team bus made its way to a burger grill that was a good five minutes away from the Van Andel Arena, Stephen O’Day’s mind was in a rare state of disarray — something that was slightly evident on Wednesday when he was held scoreless despite his Marlies team beating the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-0 that night.

A lot of that seemed to be spurred on by his concern for the wellbeing of his boyfriend Finn due to not being able to make contact with him for the past few days. That was naturally made all the more worse when reports broke out of Finn’s arrest in connection with the SDI mess.

While Stephen had nothing against Skye — or “Skylar”, as the AHL sophomore called Finn’s new friend — and her friendship with his boyfriend, he did sometimes wonder if Finn going and above and beyond for a complete stranger (at least in Stephen’s eyes) like Skye was really such a good idea, especially if it had a negative effect on Finn.

Stephen pulled out his O’RyanTel Axiom-5 cellphone from the bottom pocket of his Marlies team jacket and tried again to contact Finn on his cellphone, in the hopes of finally being able to talk to him. Unfortunately, as was the case for the past few days, Finn was unable to pick up.

Connor Brown, one of O’Day’s teammates on the Marlies, approached the young man in his seat and sat beside him. He played on right wing on the first scoring line that O’Day centred, along with Josh Leivo on the left wing side. This line combination helped foster an unexpected friendship between the three, with Brown being the one guy on the team that O’Day saw as a best friend.

“Y’feeling alright, Steve?” Connor Brown asked curiously. “Something’s up with you, and it’s not just because you’re missing the net more often than not.”

“Yeah, I’ve got to be honest, I’m not at all feeling like myself as of late,” Stephen freely admitted. “I just feel kinda… directionless, like I don’t know what’s next for me or whatever.”

“Let me guess,” Connor Brown replied. “It’s whatever that’s going on with your friend Finn Finwick, isn’t it?”

“They said that the police had him arrested because of whatever the hell’s been going on with whoever the hell this ‘Skye’ the news keeps talking about is.”

“You’d think so, but it’s not that.” Stephen thought for a quick second before denying his teammate’s claim. “It kinda is, but there’s a lot of things that’s been going on in my head right now. It’s really quite complicated.”

Connor Brown smiled to O’Day before giving a pep talk of sorts. “Maybe potting a few goals against the Griffins tonight will help shake you out of that funk.”

“And if it makes you feel better, Leivo told me he heard from the news that Finn actually might’ve gotten released from police custody. Don’t quote him on that, though.”

“Y’probably right, Brownie.” Stephen said with a sigh. Even though he agreed with what Connor Brown was saying, the 22-year-old centre still couldn’t help but be in doubt on whether or not he could return to being one of the best players on his team.

—

**_Outside SDI Base Alpha – 1135 hours_ **

“Both of you… don’t move! We’re taking you into custody!” The lead SDI guard threatened Finn and Ava, his voice sounding a bit muffled.

That was when the guard suddenly elbowed his cohort on the left before knocking him out with a forearm to the head.

“What in the world are you do–AHHH!” the other guard was knocked all the way through the door that led to the connecting bridge with an unusually strong kick that got Finn and Ava’s attention.

With the two other SDI guards unconscious, the lead guard pointed his gun at both Finn and Ava… before abruptly dropping the gun to the floor. This naturally left Finn and Ava confused. Why would someone working for SDI just spare the both of them like this?

They soon got their answer.

The guard removed “his” helmet and mask, revealing a familiar, technicolor-haired (blue-and-white, to be exact) face underneath the black military-styled ski mask.

“You really know how to make an entrance, huh?”  Finn was as happy as he had ever been to see Skye’s face once again.

Finn’s reaction to seeing his friend reveal herself like this told the story. It had been a few days since Skye left him to recover back in Toronto, but fate had brought them together once more. None of that really mattered for Finn, though. He was just elated to see his friend again. The brown-haired youth gave Skye a hug, patting her on the back repeatedly in a gesture of friendship.

“Good to see you too, Finn.” Skye said with surprising delight, happy to see her friends come in an attempt to rescue her. She rubbed her hand on Finn’s disheveled brown hair in her own show of appreciation. “How’s Stephen doing?”

“He’s quite well, though he thinks your name is ‘Skylar’ for some reason,” Finn addressed Stephen O’Day’s current status, despite not being able to contact him for days. “Also… I kinda let Ava come along for the ride.”

Once Finn got to the issue of Ava being here at SDI Base Alpha with him, his voice lowered to a sheepish-sounding tone. He knew that Skye explicitly told Ava to stay behind back at Kensington Market for her own safety, and he assumed that she would be mad with him for allowing that to happen.

“Wait, Finn… didn’t we leave Ava back at Kensington to keep her safe from all this?” Skye questioned in a firm, yet serene voice. She really didn’t sound annoyed about the whole thing at all, she was simply just understandably confused by Ava’s presence.

Ava smiled awkwardly, despite Skye being rather calm about this. “I just… wanted to help out? Finn said I could come and help.”

Skye leaned over to Ava and gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it, Ava. The way things have been going for me these past few days, I probably could use all the help I can get.”

“S’does that mean you’re not mad at me?” Ava spoke up again, still nervous about Skye possibly being angry with her.

“Not at all.” Skye took a cue from Finn and patted Ava on her back. “In fact, I’m really glad that you and Finn came for me.”

The events of the past few days may have given Skye a new perspective on things. She had people to call her friends… almost like a family to call her own. Skye now realized that she didn’t have to shoulder the weight of stopping SDI’s sinister plans alone anymore. She now had shoulders to lean on in her time of need.

Overwhelmed with love for her “irmã mais velha”, Ava hugged Skye yet again. Yes, the perilous situation Skye and her friends found themselves in was far from over, but the 20-year-old artificial superhuman welcomed this brief moment of levity from Ava — quite literally — with open arms.

After learning about Dr. Elizabeth Emery and how she took care of her when she was growing up, Skye really couldn’t help but be reminded of that when she thought of how she was now essentially Ava’s guardian. Just as Dr. Emery was there for her (at least for the early part of her childhood), Skye was going to be there to support Ava however she could.

“So what’s the plan now? Do we get out of here?” Finn asked.

“Negative,” Skye quickly answered while partially unzipping the black vest she was wearing on top of her SDI guard’s uniform. “We’re not leaving this place until Selfridge and his plans to resurrect Project Singularity are stopped for good.”

This was Skye’s best — and likely only — chance to put an end to the plans of a company that forcibly tried to bring her into their fold while trying to make life pure hell for the people she knew as her friends. She wasn’t going to pass that up.

“Now that I think about it, I think we all owe that bastard some payback for the stuff he’s done to us,” Finn conceded. He knew Skye had a perfectly good point about what was going on. The nightmare he found himself in as a result of SDI’s conspiracy targeting Skye so thoroughly was not going to go away — unless it was put to a permanent end.

“What are we waiting for then?” Ava shouted in excitement. She was eager to be a big help now that Skye expressed appreciation for her help.

“Hold up one sec, guys…” Skye remarked to get everyone settled down. She now had knowledge of the lengths SDI would go to ensure their plans succeeded, and she hoped to keep her friends alert of whatever surprise would arise here in Base Alpha. “We kinda need to think this through. Selfridge will be expecting us to attack him head on. I kinda know what sick game he likes to play.”

“I somehow know this base inside out, so it’s best that you both follow my lead.”

“You’re the expert on all things SDI, so lead the way, I guess.” Finn said as he walked beside Ava, both following Skye’s lead on this one.

With that, Finn and Ava deferred to Skye to find their way around SDI’s massive secret base of operations. The three were currently exiting the bridge that connected the Killarney warehouse with the actual Base Alpha facility, soon finding themselves in the main elevator area of the base. This room was filled with several elevators, all leading to different parts of the Base.

“So, what exactly did these SDI guys do to you?” Finn asked.

“Apart from making me believe I was meant to be some mindless super-assassin, they were planning to use my blood to create an entire army of people with my powers.” Skye didn’t want to remind herself of how Gerald Selfridge and his people tortured her in more ways than one, but she felt that Finn and Ava needed to know so that they could have more “motivation” in helping her fight SDI’s threat.

“You’re obviously not any of that, Skye. Me and Ava… we’ve seen it firsthand.” Finn replied to assure his friend of her inherent goodness. “We both know that you’re the most heroic, kind-hearted person we’ve ever met. Don’t you ever doubt that.”

“Believe me, I know…” Skye’s thoughts were again coalescing towards Dr. Emery, whose influence on her as a baby was a big reason why she now believed that she was capable of doing great things with her powers.

That fear Skye recently had of potentially being forced to use her unique abilities to kill senselessly as the face of a reborn Project Singularity no longer existed, it was now replaced with the hope of endless possibilities for utilizing her powers to make things right… the same sky of endless possibilities that helped inspire her name.

“If we’re going to get anywhere, I need to see where Dr. Ilsa Antrovich went after she helped me.” Skye genuinely didn’t know what happened after the doctor working with SDI’s Genetics and Advanced Research Projects division injected her with a serum that now apparently increased her superhuman abilities beyond their usual levels.

“Wait… who now?” Ava asked. “I thought everyone working with SDI are all bad people that want us dead?”

“Not exactly.” Skye quickly corrected her teenaged friend. “Dr. Antrovich helped me get my powers back. She’s regretted helping out Selfridge and his twisted plans for me, even though she’s a key part of the Project.”

“So… you’re suggesting this Antrovich person can help us stop Project Singularity?” Finn queried.

Skye nodded to confirm Finn’s question while she completely unzipped her stolen blue SDI guard jacket. Dr. Antrovich won Skye’s trust by revealing the truth about her creation and later helping to get her superhuman abilities restored, so she knew that the doctor could be of big help with the plan to stop Selfridge.

Finn and Ava took Skye’s word for it regarding the honesty of Dr. Antrovich. They both knew Skye was a good judge of character, and that any help against SDI was welcomed at this point, really.

As the elevator began filling up with people in labcoats and suits, Ava looked around nervously. She was sensing that something bad was about to go down.

“You guys sensing anything odd here?” Ava conferred with Skye and Finn. “I think this might be a trap…”

Skye didn’t respond to Ava, staying quiet while the elevator made one final stop on the third floor to let in a black-haired man in a grey suit. She observed the black-haired man intently, spotting that something was off about him right away. A closer look on the glass that surrounded the elevator revealed that the man was wearing a high-tech gunmetal-black glove. Her quiet observation was cut short by the sudden sight of Finn actually walking up to the black-haired man.

“What the hell are you doing?” Skye whispered towards Finn, baffled at what her friend was thinking at the moment.

Finn looked back towards Skye and Ava, mouthing the words “just trust me” inaudibly to them before putting an arm around the shoulder of the black-haired man in the suit.

“Oh, hi there.” Finn cracked a smile towards the black-haired man, before noticing that gunmetal-black glove he was wearing. “I’m just stalling so she can knock you out.”

Just as he said that last sentence, Finn gestured his thumb towards Skye, who was just standing still beside Ava. She rolled her eyes slightly before sighing and giving a small shrug.

The black-haired man charged his fist before attempting to punch Finn in the face, but the young man tilted sideways at the very last moment, allowing for Skye to block the black-haired man’s punch.

“Like he said…” Skye said as she began to hold the black-haired man’s hand with a firm, superpowered grip. “This is the part where I knock you out.”

And just like that, Skye kicked the black-haired man in the knee before landing a punch to send him into the elevator door, causing the actual elevator pod itself to shake slightly as a result. This prompted the other people in labcoats and suits inside the elevator to immediately swarm Skye, Finn, and Ava.

While Skye’s two allies had their own struggles in handling the mass of bodies overwhelming them, the young superhuman didn’t have such problems to deal with.

The crowded elevator and SDI personnel swarming her didn’t give Skye much space to maneuver in her usual dynamic style, but her reinvigorated strength more than made up for it as it allowed her to simply just outmuscle her foes.

One of the lab techs held a pistol right against Skye’s gut while she was occupied with the other SDI goons, but the gunfire couldn’t even pierce through her skin, despite it ripping a hole through her stolen uniform. He got a headbutt for his troubles.

Ava’s body was still recharging from her excessive use of her light powers from yesterday, so she really couldn’t use her abilities to their full capacity here. Despite that, she still managed to stun a few of the suited men with small blasts to their necks.

In the midst of the chaos unfolding in the elevator, two of the SDI lab techs managed to briefly restrain Skye, but soon found themselves quickly overwhelmed by the sheer strength that she possessed. The lab tech that was holding Skye’s arms from behind found himself thrown to the roof of the elevator, while the other lab tech was kicked right into the group of people that were trying to get themselves back up.

“Say, Finn… you propose to your boyfriend Stephen yet?” Skye casually asked her friend while taking down yet another lab tech with a well-executed boxing-style combo. “It’s obvious that you love this guy a lot more than you’ve been telling me.”

“Not… a good time… nngnh…” Finn strained as he was trying his best to fight a suited man who had an advantage over him at the moment.

That brief advantage for the suited man ended when Finn finally got to show off some of his boyfriend’s hockey fight maneuvers — the very same ones he practiced on Skye without much success back in Toronto a while ago. He pulled the jacket of of the suited man over his head and beginning to punch away at his gut before finally kneeing the suited man in the groin.

“But, to answer your question… I’m still thinking but I’m leaning towards a ‘yes’.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. I’m happy that you’re ready to take it to th–” Skye expressed her understated elation for Finn’s romantic life, but was interrupted by the black-suited man trying one last ambush on her.

That, of course, ended up failing.

Skye didn’t even have to look behind her to sense the black-suited man’s attack coming. She just elbowed the man in the gut before finally finishing him off with a double-forearm strike to the back of his neck as he was hunched over in pain.

By the time the elevator reached the basement floor of Base Alpha, Skye, Ava, and Finn were the only ones left standing amongst a pile of unconscious lab techs and soldiers dressed in suits.

“We’re definitely not inviting any of these guys to the wedding…” Skye commented dryly over the SDI goons she and her two allies had just beaten up.

“Wait… what wedding?” Finn was slightly taken aback by what Skye was suggesting. Not that he didn’t want to eventually marry Stephen O’Day, but he wasn’t thinking as far ahead as Skye was.

As the elevator door opened, they were met with a group of SDI soldiers in blue camo gear and heavy armor at the end of the narrow hallway, all armed with advanced weaponry.

The group of SDI soldiers began to fire their weapons at the trio, but Skye quickly stood in front of Finn and Ava to protect them from the bullets.

“What should we do?” Ava asked in a panic.

“Just stay behind me. I’ll handle these jokers…” Skye completely turned her back to the attackers so she could talk to Finn and Ava while bullets harmlessly bounced off of her. As usual, the gunfire was basically ripping Skye’s clothes to shreds, but doing no actual damage to her in any way.

Finn observed the bullets that clattered to the ground, noticing that the ammunition used were the blue-hued bullets that SDI weaponry were equipped with in order to penetrate Skye`s nigh-indestructible skin tissue. This time around, they couldn’t even graze her.

“Um…” Finn squeaked quietly to try and get Skye’s attention.

“Is something wrong?” Skye noticed Finn’s confusion, wondering what was up with him. “You seem spooked.”

“Nothing… it’s just…” Finn tried to come up with a last-minute subject changer, fumbling his words as he did so. “…that I really dunno what to say to Stephen. I’ve no idea how to propose to him and whatever.”

Skye was slightly puzzled by Finn’s sudden change of topic, but she listened nonetheless.

“From what I know of him, I’m pretty sure Stephen doesn’t exactly have a flair for the dramatic, being a hockey player and all…” Skye was again offering up some honest-to-goodness small talk in the middle of a life-threatening situation, this time continuing to absorb all the gunfire from the SDI soldiers without even feeling a thing. “You should probably try a small gesture of love. Maybe that’ll win his… excuse me a moment.”

Without even looking behind her back, Skye grabbed a fired bullet that was meant for Ava, who looked on in awe at the feat. The blue-haired superhuman removed her bullet hole-riddled vest before turning towards the SDI soldiers and heading in their direction. Once the soldiers realized their bullets weren’t going to work on their target, they dropped their weapons in fear.

One of the soldiers brandished a knife and tried to charge at Skye to engage her in hand-to-hand combat, but he really didn’t stand a chance — especially not against an opponent with superhuman strength, reflexes, and decades of combat knowledge embedded in their head on their side.

The soldier tried to swipe away at Skye, missing his mark completely. He went for a second swipe with the knife, but he again couldn’t get a scratch on the blue-haired wonder. On the third lunge, Skye moved herself backwards before grabbing the soldier’s knife-wielding arm.

“Looks like that’s three strikes… and that means you’re out!” Skye had a wry comment for her opponent before disarming the soldier and tossing him into his cohorts, knocking them all down like bowling pins.

“Actually… make that four strikes.”

As always, Finn looked on in quiet awe at Skye’s strength manifesting itself once more. The last time he saw Skye, she was a shell of her former self, someone completely defeated by a sense of self-doubt. That certainly wasn’t the Skye he was seeing in front of him. Now she was stronger than she had ever been.

“Like I said, something small will do with getting this proposal thing down.” Skye dusted her hands before turning towards Finn and Ava, again addressing the former’s planned marriage proposal.

“Did you literally just give Finn some help with his love life while getting shot at?” Ava said while getting back on her feet.

“More or less.” Skye answered right back. “‘Sides, better that I got it out of the way now before we take down SDI and Project Singularity once and for all.”

“Speaking of which, just where are we off to now?” Finn asked once more about the next course of action.

Skye only had one answer, and it was one that she didn’t like deep down. “If we’re gonna find the solution to all this, there’s only one I place I know where we can get them…”


	4. Act Three

**Act III – Profectus in Virtute**

**_Project Singularity Birthing Room – 1230 hours_ **

There was a sense of unwanted nostalgia for Skye as she led Finn and Ava into the Birthing Room. Even though she was only an infant when she was created inside this very room, it still held some rather nasty memories for her.

“Just where the heck are we anyway?” Ava questioned, still with some nervousness due to the situation she found herself in.

“This room that we’re standing in… this is where I was born.” Skye stood in front of the free-standing incubation chamber that she was literally created in two decades ago. “More specifically… this was the place where SDI created me.”

“Hold up one second, Skye…” Finn was trying to process what he just heard. “Are you saying that these SDI jerks that keep trying to kill us all are the same folks that actually made you?”

“Pretty much.” Skye’s response was right to the point. “It’s kind of a long story… but basically, Selfridge wanted me to be the first in an army of super-soldiers designed only to fight wars and nothing more.”

“…and then you grew a conscience somehow.” Finn responded without trying to sound too rude about it.

“Sort of… the kindness of a doctor working for SDI when she raised me herself and I guess being with you guys kinda helped with that, too.” Skye finally mentioned Dr. Emery, to both Finn and Ava.

“Hard to believe, I know.”

Another door inside the Birthing Room opened to reveal Dr. Antrovich, who walked out of it to meet up with Skye, Finn, and Ava. “Not as hard to believe as the Metrivex I serum working as it was intended.”

“Looks like you came just in time, Doctor.” Skye commented as she introduced Finn and Ava to Dr. Antrovich. “I was just talking about you with my two friends here.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, doc.” Finn stepped forward to shake Antrovich’s hand. “Skye’s said so many great things about you.”

“I’m glad that your young friend’s confidence in me is well-documented.” Dr. Antrovich kept her tone sincere like when she spoke with Skye yesterday about the twenty year-old’s “true” origins as an artificial creation of SDI`s Project.

“Skye also said you know how to stop this whole Singularity mess…” Ava added as she raised one arm to get Dr. Antrovich’s attention.

“While I can’t personally put an end to the Project…” Dr. Antrovich replied while taking a seat on one of the empty chairs. “I do know the key to stopping it for good.”

“And that key is literally standing right next to you.”

Finn and Ava simultaneously looked at Skye, realizing that Dr. Antrovich was referring to her as the “key” in ending Project Singularity. They knew about SDI’s seemingly-endless search for Skye and why they wanted to capture her, so the fact that she had an important role in foiling the genetics firm’s plans was really not a surprise.

“To be specific, Mr. Selfridge’s goal is one that specifically needs Skye as its key component for it to come to fruition.” Dr. Antrovich said as she activated a module inside the Birthing Chamber. “As you’ve probably figured out by now, the SDI Genomics firm — my present employers — created Skye to be the first of a set of superhumans meant to be used for life-saving purposes…”

The module lit up to show an image of an infant Skye literally being brought to life upon her creation. While she already had knowledge of how she came to be, that still didn’t make Skye feel any less uneasy about being reminded of how it all began for her… and how she could’ve easily ended up being a living weapon.

“And then your boss decided to turn her into some super-assassin type of thing…” Finn remarked, his eyes fixated on what the module screen was showing. He was still trying to process the fact that the people responsible for nearly killing him and framing him for a murder he didn’t commit were the ones who brought his friend to life.

“Mr. Selfridge’s ambitions have grown increasingly dangerous over the years since the initial shutdown of the Project and Dr. Elizabeth Emery’s liberation of Skye from this facility,” Dr. Antrovich continued to speak. “So, it is most fortunate that your young friend was never fully corrupted by these ambitions.”

“If… we’re done reminiscing here, Doctor, I think we need to focus on why we were looking for you.” Skye didn’t have time to be reminded of the past, not when her immediate future was in danger of being extinguished.

“Just how exactly am I the so-called key to stopping Project Singularity?”

“The answer in stopping the Project is quite literally in your blood, Skye.” Dr. Antrovich quickly replied. “As you probably know… most of your superhuman abilities are derived from the unique qualities contained within the blood that flows through you.”

“Please do kindly explain what you mean, because nothing’s really registerin’ right now…” Ava interjected.

“When the Project began, SDI synthesized a new type of blood for use on its artificial creations they were breeding.” Dr. Antrovich explained. “This synthetic blood — created by Dr. Emery — had the unique side-effect of giving our first Singularity subject post-human strength, speed, reflexes, as well as an enhanced internal healing factor.”

“Dr. Emery simply intended for the Project to create artificial humans with the sole purpose of facilitating the cure for a myriad of life-threatening illnesses. Somewhere along the way, Mr. Selfridge’s desires to use the Project’s creations for military applications tainted everything Dr. Emery was working on.”

Skye thought long and hard about Dr. Antrovich’s words, starting to realize the weight of what she was saying exactly. She knew for a while that there was something special about her that made her the target of SDI’s sinister conspiracy, but these past few days helped her understand what exactly they wanted out of her.

“While Mr. Selfridge has personally sought Skye for the reason of forcibly making her the ‘face’ of the Project, I know for a fact that the true reason involves using her blood for a variety of means.”

“Kinda like some sort of deranged blood donor thing?” Finn surmised.

“Mr. Selfridge is dying from a cardiovascular disease that has ravaged his heart in more ways than one,” Dr. Antrovich didn’t hesitate to divulge her employer’s hidden health problems. “He’s hoping that the extraordinary qualities that Skye’s blood possesses can help cure this condition.”

Skye was having none of Dr. Antrovich’s claims about Selfridge’s failing health, as much as she respected her. She still had the torture she suffered at the hands of Selfridge and SDI’s targeting of both Finn and Ava as part of some grand plan to resurrect a top-secret project fresh in her mind, so Skye really had no immediate sympathy for him.

“After all Selfridge has done to me and my friends, you expect me to feel sorry for him?” Skye questioned with justifiable skepticism.

“I never postulated that idea at all, I simply wanted to try and enlighten you with just why Mr. Selfridge is doing what he’s doing.” Dr. Antrovich said firmly.

“Your boss might be a dying man, but he’s got a lot to answer for and a plan fixated on Skye that needs to be shut down for good.” Finn rolled up the sleeves on his blue button-up shirt, clearly ready for action.

“Finn’s right. We need to end this nightmare before Selfridge gets his hands on my blood.” Skye concluded. “If he gets even a single ounce, he’ll have enough to create an entire battalion of super-soldiers he can use at his disposal.”

“And considering the abilities I have… it’ll mean nothing but bad news in the wrong hands.”

“Then, I suggest we conclude this chat and make our way to where Selfridge has been keeping his super-soldiers-to-be.” Dr. Antrovich interrupted the conversation to get Skye and her friends back in focus on finally stopping Project Singularity for good. Their next stop was Base Alpha’s A.R.D. (Advanced Research & Development) division.

—

**_Toronto Police Headquarters: Media Briefing Room – 1245 hours_ **

Yet again, Chief MacDonald had gathered the media into the briefing room of Police Headquarters for another press conference focused on the increasingly-bizarre situation that surrounded Skye and whatever the hell SDI had planned for her. This time, she stood alone on the podium without any other officer accompanying her.

“Once again, I thank you all for coming today for this media conference update on the SDI/Skye situation.” Chief MacDonald spoke into the microphone. “There have been incidents in recent days that have come into our attention that has changed the way we’re approaching this case.”

“Last night, Toronto Police were alerted to a situation at Toronto General Health Centre involving a man by the name of Samuel Brandt. Thanks to evidence found at the scene, Mr. Brandt’s culpability in the murder of Isaac Ellerton, the man who was involved in the Psi MediLabs explosion a couple of weeks ago, was revealed to us. In short, we’re admitting that we made a great error in arresting Finch Finwick two days ago.”

The members of the media were left confused by what Chief MacDonald was telling them about this case and the latest twist that it now took.

“What does this mean for your department’s city-wide arrest warrant for this ‘Skye’ person?” One of the reporters shouted out in the midst of the confusion.

“As for the implications Mr. Brandt’s arrest has on this whole Skye situation…” Chief MacDonald continued to talk in an attempt to restore a semblance of order. “It’s really not easy for me to admit when we’ve gotten it wrong, but I believe in the truth prevailing above all else.”

“That being said, I have personally asked for the cancellation of our arrest warrant for Skye, as a result of Mr. Brandt’s arrest and additional evidence we discovered that has essentially implicated SDI Genomics in every single crime that they’ve accused her of.”

If the news about Finn being cleared of all charges against him caused a frenzy amongst the assembled media, then this latest round of news probably made it even worse. The chatter got even louder now, with reporters all talking over one another and trying to get their turn to ask Chief MacDonald about what she was saying.

The Toronto Police Chief tried to get everyone in the briefing room to quiet down so that she could continue her press conference. In the middle of it all, Constable Khan entered from behind the podium urgently so that he could talk to Chief MacDonald.

“Chief… I’m afraid we’ve got ourselves another new complication to worry about.” Constable Khan hushed into Chief MacDonald’s ear.

“Oh, great… just what I needed to hear.” Chief MacDonald appeared to be bemused by what she was going to hear from Khan.

“Um.. it’s… er… it’s about that Brandt guy that we caught last night.” Constable Khan said nervously. “He’s… escaped his cell.”

Chief MacDonald abruptly ran off the stagewith Constable Khan in tow, leaving the other Toronto Police officers to try and calm the rattled media assemblage on their own.

—

**_Advanced Research & Development – 1300 hours_ **

Dr. Antrovich led Skye, Finn, and Ava into a cylindrical room that was the central hub for Base Alpha’s Advanced Research & Development — a division of SDI that was largely focused on creating top-secret weaponry and other technologies deliberately kept a secret from public eyes in order to maintain the company’s facade of “benevolent genetics firm”.

“This really puts SDI’s ‘Enriching Today’s World For Tomorrow’s Future’ slogan into a new light, huh?” Finn commented as he got a look at several SDI employees and soldiers walking all around the room to get to their respective destinations.

“I hate to interrupt, but why exactly are we here?” Skye asked Dr. Antrovich, wanting to know what exactly being in this room had to do with putting a stop to Selfridge’s plans.

“This is the true nerve centre for all of SDI’s present operations,” Dr. Antrovich clarified. “Despite our very public operations as a genetic research and healthcare provider. “Mr. Selfridge’s dangerous ambitions have been centralized here. He’s been hiring private military contractors, geneticists who have been disavowed by their peers, and other personnel to support his attempts at restarting the Project.”

“And all because he’s got some sick fascination with Skye…” Finn interjected while rolling up the sleeves of his blue button-up shirt. “…or her blood or whatever it is he’s planning with her.”

“There’s so many rooms here, where do we even begin?” Ava opened up, still trying her best to take in this bizarre situation she found herself in.

“The Armory is a good place to start,” Dr. Antrovich answered immediately.“It’s where SDI’s developing prototype weaponry — all likely a part of the reborn Project.”

“And where do you think you’re going, doctor?” Skye questioned as she noticed Dr. Antrovich heading off elsewhere.

“Mr. Selfridge is beginning to suspect that I am becoming too sympathetic towards you, Skye.” Antrovich explained her actions. “So, I need to meet up with him this instant to keep up this charade that I’m playing.”

“As such, I’ll apologize to you for this later…”

Dr. Antrovich abruptly pressed the emergency alarm button that was on the wall next to her, which triggered a deafening klaxon before running off. This left both Finn and Ava confused and a bit miffed at what they saw was a betrayal by the person Skye put her full trust into.

Surprisingly, Skye remained calm, even if it appeared that Dr. Antrovich was selling her out to SDI. She knew that it was all part of some kind of plan on Antrovich’s part.

“Finn, Ava… not now.”  Skye said quietly to her two friends while the room began to fill up with more SDI soldiers. “These soldiers aren’t our concern. Getting to the armory is what we need to do right now.”

The SDI soldiers collectively pointed their weapons at Skye, Finn, and Ava, all prepared to pump the trio with bullets in order to eliminate them. At the same time, Skye made a small gesture with her left hand to Ava.

“Ava… let’s show these guys the light,” Skye said quietly while she stood firmly in front of the group of SDI soldiers. “Finn… y’might want to cover your eyes.”

While Skye and Finn shielded their eyes, Ava began to emit a bright burst of pink light from her hands as she pushed them forward towards the SDI soldiers. The pink light blinded every single soldier that stood in the group’s way.

Without warning, Skye held Finn’s wrist and ran straight through the group of blinded SDI soldiers as Ava followed suit.

“Open fire at the intruders!” The SDI squad leader screamed while rubbing his eyes to restore his vision. Unfortunately for the squad leader, his men still couldn’t get a clear view of their surroundings, which led to them firing their weapons towards Skye, Finn, and Ava’s direction… but nowhere being close to even hitting them.

In order to impede the advancements of the oncoming soldiers coming after them, Skye ripped out a portion of the narrow metal wall that lined the hallway, then doing the same to the wall on the opposite end. She promptly put the two metal pieces in front of her before looking back towards Ava and Finn.

“The Armory’s just ahead… you two get there right now!” Skye shouted while she blocked the gunfire from the unblinded soldiers with her impromptu shield. Finn and Ava quickly ran straight to the Armory door, while Skye continued to block the soldiers with her shield as she moved backwards in the direction of the Armory’s entrance.

Deciding continually trying to hold off the SDI soldiers was just a continued waste of her time, Skye stepped back and kicked the metal wall piece with a fair amount of strength so that it could knock aside the black-BDU-wearing soldiers all in one fell swoop. She admired her handiwork before joining Finn and Ava at the Armory entrance — a large titanium-laced door with the word “ARMORY” stenciled across it in dark red.

On a panel situated just beside the door was an advanced fingerprint-based program that allowed for access into the Armory. And since neither Skye, Finn, or Ava were SDI employees, they’d obviously be locked out of entering the room.

Before Finn could say something about the situation at hand, Skye ran towards the pile of unconscious SDI soldiers and put one of the bodies on her shoulders. Upon returning to Finn and Ava’s side, Skye removed the glove from the fallen soldier and pressed one of his fingers against the fingerprint detection module.

“ARMORY ACCESS CONFIRMED – WELCOME, MR. ROBERTS.” The artificial female voice of the access console said in a monotone as the Armory door opened slowly. That was the hint for Skye, Finn, and Ava to enter the massive room.

As the three entered the Armory, they were met by a massive warehouse-like facility, whereupon weapons and other technologies of all kinds were being stored in various crates and containers.

At the centre of the room was the now-infamous arrowhead symbol that Skye was all-too familiar with — only this time, that design was merged with the SDI logo, with both symbols surrounded by a blue circle that had the words “PROFECTUS IN VIRTUTE – PROJECT SINGULARITY” written on the outer ring of that circle.

Despite having a strong urge to just destroy everything in this room, Skye kept herself tempered, since she, Finn, and Ava still needed to gather whatever intel they could find in this room. While she kept her focus on that seal, Skye was interrupted by Finn, who had something to show her.

“Um, Skye… I think you might want to see this.” Finn said while he struggled to pull a large grey crate marked “YT-IR-01” towards her with Ava’s help. Upon opening the crate, the three were astonished to find several uniquely-shaped bullets, all of which were glowing in that now-recognizable shade of blue.

 _“Gerald Selfridge, what in the literal blue hell are you up to?”_ Skye quietly thought to herself while she had a look at the YT-IR-01 crate before noticing row upon row of similar-looking crates that bore the Greek alphabet letter Omega. 

“Guys…” Ava interjected when she noticed the SDI soldiers keeping watch of the Armory spotting something wrong. “….I think we’ve got company.”

Before the group of five soldiers could do anything, they were easily knocked unconscious by Skye, who ran to their area in mere seconds, and used her superior combat skills to defeat them one-by-one.

The first soldier got tossed into a stacked group of YT-IR crates, while another was slammed into the wall. Skye grabbed one other soldier and used him as a human shield to block the incoming gunfire from the other remaining soldiers — who were both using weapons filled with rounds of YT-IR-laced bullets. She finished it off by tossing her human shield onto the two SDI goons to knock them down.

“Okay, if there’s this much security for where they’ve housed all their weapons,” Finn walked over to Skye, Ava joining him as well. “Whatever they’ve got here must be really important.”

Skye agreed with Finn’s assessment, leaving her to simply instruct him and Ava to continue their search for evidence.

—

_**Gerald Selfridge’s Office – 1315 hours** _

With the security alarm still blaring and the supposed “threat” of Skye and her two companions still present, Dr. Antrovich was already on her way to the fifth-level office of SDI Genomics’ CEO, Gerald Selfridge, but soon found herself confronted by the man himself, who was waiting for her outside the door of his office.

Dr. Antrovich looked surprised to see Selfridge out of his office, but she spoke nonetheless. “Sir, we should be getting you inside your office for your safety. The intruders that have attacked the Base are sti–“

“Ms. Antrovich, do you take me as some kind of fool that can be easily manipulated?” Selfridge didn’t waste time in getting to his point. “I know that you’ve been working behind my back to aid Subject SK-591.”

Antrovich feigned a look of offense towards Selfridge’s accusation, even if it was basically true. She had a charade to maintain in order to buy Skye time to find the answers she was looking for to stop Project Singularity.

At the same time, Selfridge’s two personal guards stood behind Dr. Antrovich and kept her in place.

“Despite your treachery, I offer you to come into my office and see what I will have planned for the Subject and her friends.” Selfridge said while the doors to his office slid open.

Mr. Selfridge’s office was a relatively small cubicle that seemed to share his visions of advancement — with a futuristic globe-like device situated on his desk, as well as a small drone that helped monitor his heart. Behind the desk was a wall of monitors that kept an eye on everything that was going on inside Base Alpha.

“Sir, you are not well…” Dr. Antrovich tried to appeal to whatever humanity was supposedly left within her boss. “Your condition has driven you into this obsession with Skye and her powers…”

“DO NOT CALL HER THAT!” Selfridge snapped angrily while he he made his way over to the desk. “She is Subject SK-591. I will no longer acknowledge her by the sad excuse of an identity that Dr. Emery came up with.”

“I have grown tired of her persistence to deny her true destiny of ushering in the birth of a new tomorrow, so now… I will teach her a lesson that she will come to regret learning.”

Dr. Antrovich really couldn’t do anything to dissuade Selfridge from his mad pursuit for Skye’s blood, as much as she hated having to just stand idly by.

The screens turned on as soon as Selfridge sat on his chair, showing a live feed of the Armory — where Skye, Finn, and Ava were still looking for intel on the Project.

“If Subject SK-591 wishes to know what lies within the Armory…” Selfridge opened up a transparent keyboard and monitor on his desk. “…I will be more than happy to introduce her to Omega.”

“And Omega will be more than happy to introduce SK-591 to her oblivion.”


	5. Act Four

**Act IV – Alpha and Omega**

_**Toronto Police Headquarters, Jail Cell Area – 1320 hours** _

As Chief MacDonald and Constable Khan reached the Jail Cell area to see the source of the disturbance caused by Brandt, they were met by almost every cell having been blown open, and almost every crook locked up all out of their cells — every single one of them with a bone to pick against the Chief of the Toronto Police.

“How’s your hand-to-hand training, Constable?” Chief MacDonald looked at Khan while she readied herself into a fighting position.

“Not… exactly up to par, Chief, but I’m ready to help.” Constable Khan freely admitted.

Their conversation was interrupted right as the group of jailed criminals advanced towards the two Toronto Police officers.

The first two crooks tried to engage Chief MacDonald, but were no match for the veteran officer, who simply grabbed the two and caused them to headbutt one another. Yet another crook attempted a from-behind ambush, but got a back-kick to the groin for his troubles.

Constable Khan, true to his claims, had a much harder time trying to fight the convicted criminals that were attacking him. Despite being a bit more slow in his one-two punch combinations, he was still able to fight dirty to gain an advantage as he mashed his fingers against the eyes of the one criminal he was fighting. The three other criminals that were still standing began to dogpile on Khan soon after, however.

That temporary advantage for the criminals soon ended when Chief MacDonald forcibly swung one of the jail cells against the backs of the one tattoo-covered criminal who appeared to be leading the rest of his cohorts. The other two thugs were soon dispatched by a recovering Constable Khan, who smacked them both with his nightstick to end the the skirmish.

“All things considered, this seemed less tougher than having to face down a room filled with reporters…” Chief MacDonald made a pithe comment as she went to grab the ringleader of the criminals from the floor.

“As for you, Mr. Colangello, I think it’s time you did something useful with your life and tell us where Samuel Brandt ran off to.”

“Fuck you…” Colangello had nothing but disgust for Chief MacDonald, who had him arrested over a year ago on charges of homicide and illegal drug trafficking. “I’ll never tell you any–“

Chief MacDonald decided that she had heard enough of Colangello’s belligerence and just knocked him out with a simple punch to the jaw.

“Constable, get every available officer we’ve got right now to find Brandt…” the Chief of Police demanded. “…wherever the hell he is, he’s a danger to everyone and we have to lock him up before he causes mass chaos.”

Unbeknownst to Chief MacDonald and her officers, Brandt had already escaped Toronto Police Headquarters a while ago, utilizing the small-scale riot as a means of distraction to ensure a seamless escape.

And now, Brandt was on his way to ensure that his part of the plan would be carried out without interruption.

—

**_SDI Base Alpha Armory – 1320 hours_ **

The search for a way to stop Project Singularity inside Base Alpha’s Armory was cut off by the sudden sight of the “Profectus in Vertute” door opening to reveal a monster that was literally bigger than Skye, Finn, and Ava combined.

While Finn and Ava were both slightly terrified at the bulging monstrosity that stood before them, Skye didn’t seem to share their fear of this armored foe — at least on the outside. In her mind, there was a bit of a seed of doubt that clouded over Skye. The giant on the other side was nothing like she had ever encountered before.

The gigantic grey-skinned monster was covered nearly head-to-toe in massive armor that bore an eerie blue glow — something that clued Skye in on the fact that the YT-IR crates of specialized bullets and other equipment were meant for this creature. On its shoulders were two matching cannons, with tubes that directly attached to a large cylinder of blue energy worn behind the creature’s back.

“What the hell is that thing?” Finn hollered in a panic.

“Must be another one of Selfridge’s monstrosities…” Skye replied as she silently faced the beast that was staring her down with its red, hate-filled eyes.

“You are most observant, SK-591…” Selfridge’s voice echoed through the PA speakers inside the Armory. “Super-Soldier Omega has been created from the leftovers we salvaged of your blood before that traitorous devil Elizabeth Emery stole you from our caring hands. His armor  has been crafted from an element fused from both yttrium and iridium… the only elements strong enough to pierce through your invulnerable skin. It is also the same material that comprises the ammunition my Repossession Task Force has used in their many failed attempts to apprehend you. But now, it is in the hands of the ultimate weapon… one that will bring your broken corpse to me if it has to in order to complete the Project.”

“I am sorry that it had to end this w–”

Skye grabbed one of the metallic weapons cases and threw it into the PA speaker right as Selfridge was in the middle of his ranting.

“I think we’ve heard enough from that blowhard for one lifetime.” Skye declared as she returned to Finn and Ava’s side. “Now, we just need to figure out how to deal with that giant.”

“Can’t you just punch it into unconsciousness with your strength?” Ava questioned.

Skye was quick to respond. “That’s easier said than done… especially since he’s armed with weaponry that could kill me in an instant.”

“Well, that… thing can’t hurt you if it can’t hit you.” Finn chimed in, possibly thinking of some way to help Skye with facing Omega. “…and you’re pretty good at avoiding getting hit.”

“That’s true, but this is something I’m going to need help from you and Ava.” Skye confessed that she wasn’t going to be able to fight Omega alone. “Just find a way to distract the big guy so I can get close enough to attack its exposed head.”

Skye pointed towards the bulging, grey-skinned head of Omega, allowing for Finn and Ava to get a good look at where she needed to strike SDI’s gigantic super-soldier. On Skye’s cue, Finn and Ava took their positions and began to try and get the attention of Omega.

Finn grabbed a steel pipe from the floor and tried to swing away at Omega, failing to do any substantial damage to the monster. However, hurting the giant wasn’t what Finn was intending on doing. He was just simply playing his role in providing a distraction. Seeing what was happening, Ava sprang into action and let loose with her energy blasts, forcing Omega to divert its attention away from Finn.

Without hesitation, Skye threw herself in front of Omega and began to use brute force in an attempt to fell the beast that had its eye on her blood. She avoided a clubbing blow by leaping above Omega and landing right behind it.

Skye struck Omega with a kick from behind, before mustering up all her strength to lift the giant super-soldier over her head and throwing it into the Armory walls. The fruits of Selfridge’s attempts at recreating the Project — along with everything that had transpired up to that point — brought out an intense, yet focused rage within Skye.

The years of endless manhunts, suffering and torture at the hands of SDI and its nefarious plans finally seemed to give Skye a greater motivation to finally put an end to all this with her extraordinary abilities.

She rushed towards Omega and began to pummel the creature with repeated punches to its head. Each strike felt increasingly more cathartic for Skye — almost as if she was letting off some much needed steam because of SDI’s conspiracy wreaking havoc on everything she held dear.

With every punch landing to the grey-hued skin of Omega, Skye’s thoughts drew closer and closer to eventually putting an end to everything SDI was planning… especially finishing off Selfridge’s mad ambitions to resurrect a decades-old project that incidentally created her.

It was just unfortunate that Omega was unlike any opponent that Skye had ever faced — something that soon became frighteningly evident once it recovered from the beating being delivered.

Omega promptly grabbed Skye by the neck while lifting her upwards off her feet. It then clasped both its hands around Skye in a tight vise-like grip, causing her to scream out in pain as the hold tightened and began to compress her body into an uncomfortable position.

Finn pulled Ava back up to her feet. “Ava, we need to do something before that thing literally squeezes the life outta Skye.”

“Are your energy powers fully charged yet?”

“Um… I think so.” Ava felt a bit of her energy recharging within her body.

“Then you know what to do…” Finn gave a simple nod.

“Y’don’t have to tell me twice!” Ava replied with a hint of excitement.

Ava didn’t hesitate to activate her light powers upon hearing Finn’s suggestion, quickly directing her blasts towards Omega’s chest armor. Unfortunately, it seemed that the light blasts didn’t even seem to do any harm to the massive super-soldier as it continued to crush Skye within its giant hands.

“It’s not workin’! He’s not even getting hurt!” Ava yelled in a panic to Finn. She was unsure of how to stop Omega before it was too late to prevent any further harm to Skye.

Finn thought for a second for what to do next, quickly noticing another exposed portion of skin on Omega’s legs.

“His legs are another weak spot, Ava… “ Finn yelled. “…go for the legs!”

On that note, Ava surrounded herself with pink energy before launching herself like a battering ram right into Omega’s exposed legs. The giant stumbled slightly before being hit again by Ava’s energy-augmented charging.

Upon being bombarded by Ava’s attack on its legs, Omega was forced to let go of Skye, who promptly landed on her back as she fell to the floor. Finn immediately rushed to her side, while Ava continued attacking Omega with her energy powers.

“Y’alright?” Finn asked Skye as the twenty year-old got herself back up on her feet.

“Yeah… ahn…. oth’r than nearly getting crushed like a can, I’m fine.” Skye groaned in slight pain while stretching her shoulders back from being dislocated by Omega’s crushing squeeze. “Unnnnhhh… wh… where’s Av– oh… no.”

Skye and Finn’s attention were caught by the sight of Ava still continuing her attack on Omega with her powers. Much to the chagrin of the teenaged superhuman, however, those light powers started to wane before disappearing on her completely.

While Ava was left wondering what happened to her light, she was caught by surprise by a sonic roar from Omega that forced her — along with Skye and Finn — to cup her ears in pain from the loudness of the monster’s roaring. Ava felt her ear ringing repeatedly while she collapsed to the floor in pain.

“Finn, wait right here. I’ve got Ava.” Skye — who quickly recovered from Omega’s sonic roar, none the worse for wear. — looked to her battered friend before lifting herself back up and sprinting to Ava’s position. She hit a leaping Superman punch to Omega’s head that temporarily stunned the creature, allowing for Skye to make sure Ava was okay.

“Ava… are you alright?” Skye whispered as she huddled over her young friend. “I’m here now. You’re safe now… You’re saf—”

Before Ava could breathe a sigh of relief, reality came crashing down in the form of a blade that punched through Skye’s chest.


	6. Act Five

**Act V – Finish What You Started**

There was a sense of both disbelief and uncertainty that took over several all-too-brief moments as Finn and Ava were both caught off-guard by an unfamiliar, almost frightening sight.

Both their eyes were focused on the bifurcated blade of Omega going right through Skye, piercing her nigh-invulnerable skin like a butcher’s knife cutting apart a slab of meat.

Omega’s blade quickly retracted from where the massive genetic monstrosity had impaled his target. Ava’s face recoiled in horror while blood from Skye’s chest wound dripped onto her pink sweater.

The world began to become blurry for Skye as she continued to lose blood from her near-fatal injury. Her incredible superhuman endurance even seemed to be failing her at this critical moment. This was something that SDI’s ruthless CEO kept a close eye on from his office located on the sixth floor of Base Alpha.

“You have the Subject right where you want her, Omega… finish what you’ve started and end this now!” Selfridge’s voice rang out from the earpiece his gigantic weapon of mass destruction was wearing.

 _“I’m not letting that thing kill Skye…”_ Finn knew he really stood no chance against the musclebound threat that was in danger of ending his friend’s life, but he had a desperate plan cooked up in his head. _“I have to do something… and dear God help me, there’s only one thing I can do here…”_

The young man lifted himself off the cold floor, looking at Omega dead in its eyes with a stare of confident defiance. This plan of his was completely on-the-fly and could’ve ended with him getting killed, but Finn didn’t care. Making sure Selfridge’s monstrous weapon didn’t finish Skye off for good was paramount in his mind.

“Hey, you big oaf! Why don’t you come and get me instead!?” Finn hollered to get Omega’s attention.

“Finn….ungh… a-are… you n-u-u-utsssss….?” Skye couldn’t raise her voice beyond a meager shout, so she couldn’t really dissuade Finn from what he was daring to do right now.

With a monstrous creature targeting him and ready to do the same thing it did to Skye, Finn ran for his life to try and provide a distraction. He wasn’t exactly what one would deem as an “athletic” person, but the desperation to avoid a grisly fate at the hands of Omega and doing whatever he could to buy enough time for Skye to survive kicked in readily.

Ava was still frozen in fear due to Skye nearly getting sliced apart right in front of her very eyes. She didn’t know what to do next or if she was strong enough to use her powers to help out against Omega. While there were other instances where Ava used her light manipulation abilities to save Skye from danger, this was an entirely different situation altogether due to the all-too-real possibility of Skye dying literally by her side.

“Av…..aggggh… y’need to do som– sm… .thng…” Skye spoke weakly, her condition deteriorating even worse. “Sv…. urrrgh…”

Quickly closing her eyes so that she didn’t have to see Skye in excruciating pain, Ava prepared herself to find any way to help out Finn as he continued to evade Omega’s advance. She started to surround both fists with the ethereal pink light that her body produced in an almost-unlimited supply.

“You leave Finn alone! You big bully!” Ava’s voice echoed loudly while pink light continued to engulf her body. That same light began to emanate from her eyes — denoting an increase in power that was possibly exacerbated by Skye’s plight.

Omega charged its shoulder and hand cannons and aimed them right at Ava and the badly-injured Skye.

While the yellow energy blasts from Omega’s weaponry managed to knock Skye down in her heavily-weakened state, they didn’t even seem to damage Ava at all, instead being absorbed by the increasingly-large field of pink light that blanketed the young girl.

“Whoa….” Ava’s fear for Skye’s life briefly disappeared — replaced by some excitement from her absorbing of Omega’s energy blasts.  

“Shoot at the ceiling, Ava!” Finn noticed what was going on, and instructed his young ally in desperation while he was trying to avoid the lumbering Omega’s forceful forearm strikes.

Ava gulped before following Finn’s orders, concentrating her energies into one blast to the roof directly above Omega, which caused concrete and metal to soon come crashing down on the behemoth, taking him out for the time being.

Once again, Ava fell to her knees after using her light powers to their limits. She didn’t know if Skye was going to live, but Ava felt some respite about saving Finn from Omega’s wrath — as well as finding out about another application of her incredible energy powers.

Finn leaped out of the way just in time, soon finding himself right where Ava was huddled next to Skye, who was practically bleeding to death.

The twenty-one year-old was left horrified by what he was seeing before his very eyes. It was beyond unsettling for Finn to see someone as tough and strong as Skye at the brink of certain death — especially when he was used to seeing Skye shrug off any injuries she sustained.

“My God! What the hell were you thinking there, Skye?” Finn’s reaction was a mix of both distraught shock and nervousness concerning his friend’s recklessly heroic actions.

“I gss…. I just… can’t stop m’self… fr… being a hero…” Skye coughed out somewhat inaudibly, not being to speak clearly due to the injuries she sustained. A trail of blood dripped from her mouth as she spoke.

Finn and Ava simultaneously picked Skye up to help her get back to her feet. They were collectively fearing that the worst was about to happen to their friend.

“No… you just can’t die like this…” Finn’s voice lowered into a tone of great concern for his friend’s well-being. He was trying to fight back tears, but it was easier said than done — considering that Finn couldn’t bear to see Skye’s bloodied and broken body. Finn was just too used to seeing Skye shrug off injury after injury during the three weeks he had known her, so seeing her close to dying was something that perturbed him greatly.

“I app… appreciate… nrggh… the sentimen….. ungh…” It became increasingly difficult for Skye to finish a sentence — much less even utter a single word — due to her injuries. This kind of pain that Skye was going through seemed to unsettle her as much as it did Finn and Ava.

“Please don’t die… don’t die…” Ava teared up, afraid that she was going to lose the one person who went above and beyond to care for her. While she had a variety of people she knew and confided with in her Kensington Market neighbourhood, Skye was the only one that Ava valued so closely as if she were a part of her own family.

Losing someone like Skye was something Ava was not prepared to accept.

Skye couldn’t say anything anymore to ease Ava’s fears, but she managed to place her palm on the teenager’s forehead in a gesture of assurance. Ava held onto Skye’s hand and brought it closer to her cheek, tears flowing freely from her eyes. The tears poured out even more from Ava’s face once she saw Skye lose consciousness, apparently succumbing to the chest wound she suffered at the hands of Omega.

Ava gasped at the sight of Skye looking as lifeless as she did at the moment. Her body was unnaturally pale — a grim sign that she was good as dead. Finn could no longer resist the urge to cry. He took Ava in his arms, embracing her as hard as he could. Then the tears started to flow from his eyes as reality began to set in for him as well.

Skye was dead, and there was nothing Finn or Ava could do about it.

—

**_Elsewhere…_ **

Inside his office, Mr. Selfridge remained in his chair, viewing the chaos unfolding in the Armory from a set of security cameras placed above the area.

Though it seemed that his weapon of mass destruction was down for the count, Selfridge appeared to be satisfied that its primary mission of eliminating Skye was complete. He looked towards Dr. Antrovich with scorn for her betrayal.

The Slovakian geneticist simply echoed that disgust right back at Selfridge. She really wasn’t too pleased with how the SDI CEO’s obsession with restarting the Project was consuming him outright.

“Now are you happy, Gerald?” Dr. Antrovich hissed. “You’ve got what you wanted with your monstrosity ending an innocent life…”

“No. No. I haven’t gotten what I wanted yet.” Selfridge hacked as he was talking. “Not until I have the Subject’s blood flowing in me and my new army of Singularity super-soldiers.”

“Isn’t Skye’s death enough for you?” Antrovich seethed in anger. “Are you going to kill her two young associates next because they’re standing in your way?”

Selfridge chuckled to himself. “The Subject had a chance to join me in history unfolding as part of my vision, but she rejected me and thus paid the price for it.”

“If they wish to prevent me from attaining my goal of the rebirth of Project Singularity, then they too will join their deceased friend.”

The SDI CEO pressed the arrowhead symbol button on his wrist gadget, which signalled for the Genetic Extractors.

“This is Selfridge to all combat-ready SDI security personnel… you have full authorization to eliminate any remaining resistance standing in your way.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll take care of the Subject’s two accomplices.” The voice of Base Alpha’s head of security responded.

At the same time, the Extractors emerged from five circular irises that opened from the floor. They collectively stood prepared, awaiting further orders from Mr. Selfridge. 

“My moment of glory is at hand…” Selfridge taunted Dr. Antrovich. “…all those years of trying to finish what I started with Project Singularity will be finally validated.”

“And you will have a front row seat to see the dawning of a new age.”

The monitor behind Selfridge switched from the live feed of the Armory to an image of a room filled with rows of cold, metallic chambers. These chambers were all uniformly similar in design and content — all of them containing human bodies lying dormant and waiting for what was to come next…

The final stage of Project Singularity’s rebirth.

**NEXT: Is Skye dead? Can Finn and Ava survive the full might of SDI’s assault? Find out in the exciting Season Finale, “Undaunted”.**

**(c)2016 M. Quill, WQW Productions**


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